Paid obituaries have the strange distinction of being considered matter of record even when the newspaper's editors have absolutely no power over their content. Editor & Publisherput up a humorous description of the errors that can be found when families write death notices. For example:

"One descendant's obit claimed his ancestry could be traced back to the Vikings (an honest mistake; I got suckered by that Web site too). Another claimed to be a descendant of George Washington—not good news to Martha, as she and George had no children."

Lesson learned: Take obituaries with a grain of salt. Click here to read the story.